


Prologue to the Past

by sansasnarks



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode Related, Rip Hunter/Jonah Hex - Freeform, Rip Hunter/Miranda Coburn - Freeform, minor Rip/Miranda, time hex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 08:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6559669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansasnarks/pseuds/sansasnarks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Sometimes, the past is prologue." When Rip first sees Jonah Hex, he doesn't want to relive the memories he had. But maybe some things are worth reliving. Backstory fic for Rip and Jonah in 1x11.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prologue to the Past

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was immediately interested in Rip and Jonah's dynamic and the background information that they gave us, so I had to write this and imagine the specific situations that these two were talking about. It is both Rip/Jonah and Rip/Miranda, but mostly about telling Rip and Jonah's backstory, leading up to Rip leaving.

Rip rolled his eyes when he saw the unfamiliar figure walking into the Waverider with the rest of the team.  _Of course._

"What is it about you people that whenever we go to a new timeline you feel the need to pick up-" the figure came into focus, and Rip stopped, looking at the man in front of him. "...strays." 

_Jonah._

"Nice," Jonah looked around the Waverider. "I didn't get to see it last time around." 

"Last time?" Ray piped up. 

"A long story which we will not be telling," Rip said, following after Jonah, and yet, in a flash, the memory played out in his head. 

_"You," Jonah said. "Have to show me this ship you've been talking about for so long."_

_"You'll love it," Rip smiled. "I think you and Gideon especially would get on quite well."_

_Jonah gave a small scoff, which Rip had now recognized as Jonah's small way of showing affection. "Lookin' forward to it, Time Master. I'm holdin' you to it."_

_"You will," Rip promised, clasping Jonah's shoulder. "I promise."_

He faintly heard Jonah mention his coat, and Rip stood in front of his team, only wanting to know why Jonah was here. Why here, why _now_? 

Rip only half listened to the explanations - Jonah was here for a bounty, Mick - no, Snart - had escalated the situation, the team had predictably ruined a part of the town. Rip didn't care. Even when he told Ray to not mess with the timeline, Rip was on autopilot, repeating words that he had said so often before. 

Looking back, Rip couldn't even remember how he had agreed to let the team stay. All he could remember was Jonah's bitter comments about him leaving town, his side jabs at how Rip was running with  _heroes_ now, and Rip had found himself immediately allowing the team to go, as long as it got Jonah off the ship. Jax had asked him if he was going, but Rip excused himself, saying it would be far better if he stayed on the ship, and the group had thankfully left with no comment from Jonah. 

His team hadn't picked up on the meaning behind Jonah's words - but then again, how could they? Rip's fingers grazed against his coat -  _Jonah's_ coat, as he had been reminded. 

_"Wait, wait, wait." Rip put his hands up and backed away from the very large and overbearing man who was walking towards him, gun cocked in hand. Of course he had left all his weapons back on the ship._

_"Perhaps we can work this out?" Rip squeaked out, shuddering when he hit a wall behind him, realizing that he had nowhere left to go. Rip groaned, cursing himself for not being prepared. He was going to fail his first mission as a Time Master. He was going to die without ever truly completing his dream, without completing the mission. Without apologizing to Miranda for the way they had ended things before he had left. Rip closed his eyes, waiting for the ending shot, but it never came. Instead, he heard a small_   _thwacking noise, and peering open his eyes, he saw the man fall to the ground, unconscious. Rip's eyes trailed up from the body on the floor, and he saw the jacket first: brown, trailing on the floor with the man's small height, but fitting fairly nicely on his frame.The man had an odd scar on his cheek, Rip finally noticed, but it had to have been an old injury, for the man didn't even register Rip's quick glance to the side._

_"Thank you," Rip got out, looking back at the man. "You truly saved me."_

_The man grunted. "Someone had to. You clearly have no idea what you're doing."_

_Rip snorted - it reminded him of something Miranda might say, but Rip quickly shook her from his memory. "Ah, well," Rip could only get out. He took a few striding steps towards the man, who only shot Rip a small look._

_"My name is Rip Hunter," Rip said, extending his hand._

_The man only stared at Rip's hand until Rip hesitantly put it away. Rip considered walking away - he shouldn't fraternize with people from the past, anyway - when the man raised his head to look at Rip, and spoke:_

_"Name's Jonah Hex."_

* * *

 

When Rip heard the team walk back to the Waverider, he let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. He went into autopilot and started scolding his team, but was glad to see that they were all safe. Until Jonah delivered a blow clearly meant for Rip. 

"The day'll come, when y'all leave," Jonah's eyes flitted to Rip, who looked up, refusing to back down from Jonah's comment. "And Salvation will end up like Calvert." 

"What's a Calvert?" Mick asked. 

"A closed matter," Rip said shortly, and he locked eyes with Jonah. "Mr. Hex, a word." Jonah said nothing, but walked into Rip's office. 

"So it's Mr. Hex now, huh?" Jonah asked, stepping into the room. "How formal,  _Rip_." 

Rip sighed and collapsed into his chair. "I know you're angry -" 

"No," Jonah cut him off. "I stopped being angry a long time ago." He looked at Rip directly then, delivering a deliberate blow. "All the feelings I had back then are gone. I'm past it."  

Rip tried to ignore the pain in his chest, and instead looked up at Jonah. "No, you're not," he stated. "I know you're not, because I'm not." 

Jonah's jaw clenched, but instead of responding, he took a few tentative steps around Rip's office, looking around at the ancient artifacts packed neatly on the side, the desk cluttered with papers and information about Savage. "This room is very you," he said, and his eyes locked on Rip's locket, which lay curled up on his desk. Before Rip could stop him, Jonah had picked up the locket and was staring at the photo inside. 

"You went back to her." It was a statement, nothing more. 

"Yes," Rip said. "I loved her. I still do," he admitted. 

Jonah continued as if he hadn't heard Rip speak. "Your son. He looks like you." 

Rip gave a small, bitter smile. "Yes. He was a wild one, my Jonas." 

Jonah looked up when he heard the name, surprise clearly evident on his face. "Jonas?" 

"He's why I'm here," Rip said. "A man named Vandal Savage murdered my family, and the Time Masters..." he took a breath. "The Time Masters refused to end Savage, so I must." 

"And your team?" 

"Ms Saunders is the only one who can kill Savage. The other members..." Rip paused. "I told myself it was because they had a minimal effect on future history, but perhaps it is because they all want to be heroes." He stopped then and chuckled. "Or insist that they are not, but have been nothing but heroic to the team countless times." Rip looked up at Jonah then. "Perhaps a part of me was remembering you." 

"Really?" Jonah scoffed, and Rip could hear the bitterness seeping through. "Because it seems to me that you left me here and forgot about me until now."

"No," Rip said, softly but firmly. "I never once forgot about you."

Jonah tore his eyes away from Rip's gaze, and walked back to the doorway. "Well, this town needs saving," he said, walking out the door. "I suggest you start thinking about them rather than me." 

Rip watched Hex's image recede. "I'm trying," he sighed. 

* * *

 Rip still couldn't escape Jonah's influence even now, it seemed, as his eyes studied the all too familiar pictures of Calvert. 

"Why is it so important to you?" 

"Because the past is prologue," Rip muttered softly. He turned, explaining to them how he had to leave, how he had to get out of town, how he had to tear himself away from heroism. 

How he had to tear himself away from Jonah, knowing full well that he was leaving him to pain and destruction only a day later. 

Rip may have started a new journey that day, but he knew full well he was ending an entirely different one as well. 

_"We'll save the town, Rip," Jonah slurred, leaning into Rip's shoulder, and Rip struggled to keep the man standing up. "We're going to save them. We'll be heroes."_

_"That we will," Rip said softly, and he eased Jonah onto his bed. Jonah took off his long brown coat and tossed it on the floor before plopping into bed. Rip sighed, and picked up the coat, gently folding the coat in his hands. He turned to leave, and stopped when he heard Jonah's voice._

_"Stay?"_

_Rip paused, contemplating the question far longer than he should have. Would it really be too bad if he stayed a little while longer? Helped save the town and live the rest of his life with Jonah Hex? Rip closed his eyes, willing an image of Miranda to come to his mind._

_"I can't," Rip said, refusing to turn around. He stood at the doorway, waiting - hoping? - for a response, but none came, and Rip heard the soft, oddly gentle sounds of Hex breathing in his sleep. Rip exhaled and opened his eyes, clutching the jacket to his chest._

_"Goodbye...friend," Rip said, and then he was gone._

He had stayed on the ship for a few more days after that, watching as Calvert's future - which had previously been in flux - finally concrete. When it had, Rip had left, knowing that the damage had been done. He had gone back to the Academy - to  _home_ \- telling himself that his moments were but a side effect, simple time drift. And yet, a part of him - despite his love for Miranda, which Rip knew to be true - yearned for the west, for heroic actions, for Jonah Hex. 

Jonah was talking to him now, asking him if he was coming, and Rip could only shake his head no. Jonah shot back with an "it figures" and walked straight past him. 

But Rip had pushed it down, and now, he was telling himself that he could get past this again, could just get done with the mission and leave again. All he had to do was let the team fight, and stay far away from Jonah Hex as possible. 

* * *

 "You haven't wanted to leave this ship since we've come here," the tall black haired one was saying, and Rip turned away.  _Classic Rip, turning when things got to be too much_. 

I found this era...enticing," Rip was saying. 

"And yet you still managed to leave," Jonah said. And finally,  _finally_ he had gotten to ask the question that had been on his mind for years, only for Rip to admit that he had known it was coming. He knew Calvert was going to happen, and he still left. Jonah found his fist flying towards Rip. 

"I deserve that." 

"You deserve a lot worse!" Jonah barked out. "You knew and you still left." 

_Jonah stood in the middle of Calvert, or what it used to be. Where there was once a lively, bustling town, was now debris and destruction.  Across from him, a still smoldering shingle teetered perilously off a convenience store's roof. It was the only thing not left in shambles._

_He had failed, and it was all because of Rip Hunter._

_There was only silence, but Jonah found it overwhelming. For a brief moment, he wildly hoped that Rip would come back, that he would prevent this from happening - but as quickly as the thought came, it was gone. If Rip Hunter was planning on doing that, then Jonah wouldn't be standing in the middle of a decimated town._

_Jonah pushed down the anger that was boiling in his chest. Rip Hunter had betrayed him, had left him to fight on his own, had left him to fail the city he promised he'd protect, the city they could have stayed in. He'd gone off in his metal ship in the sky, and he wasn't coming back. Jonah wouldn't waste his breath on him. Rip Hunter was a coward, and Jonah Hex did not waste time on cowards._

_The teetering shingle fell to the ground with a large clank, and at the sound, Jonah quietly put on his hat and embarked on his horse, not knowing where he wanted to go._

He had been lost for the first time, and despite his constant reminders that he shouldn't care, Jonah had found his early journeys filled with thoughts of Rip Hunter. He had said he had hated Rip, and all his excuses, and even now he tried not to listen to Rip talking about how he had felt this pull to heroism, to stay with him. "And had I stayed, I no longer would have been able to stay a Time Master." Rip stopped, and Jonah could hear the gears in his head moving. "But I am no longer a Time Master," Rip started, and it took Jonah all he had to not show emotion right then and there, because the next thing he knew, Rip was saying he would have to duel. 

Watching Rip duel was the longest minute of his life, and when Rip shot Stillwater, Jonah let out a breath. 

Seems like he didn't hate Rip Hunter so much after all. 

* * *

 "I don't stay in one town often," Jonah said. 

"Seems like we have that much in common, at least," Rip said, and to his pleasure, Jonah seemed to find it amusing and agreed with him. Rip looked up at him, wanting to tell Jonah so many things - how strongly he had felt, how if he had no attachments to his present, that he would have stayed. But Rip said none of these things. 

"Be well, Jonah," Rip said. 

Jonah looked up briefly, and though he answered quickly, Rip knew he had put a lot of thought into his words. "Nice thing about my world...for you, it's not goin' anywhere." 

"Perhaps we shall see each other again, my friend," Rip responded, and he knew Jonah was mulling over the word "friend". He made his decision quickly, though, and said, "Yeah, I reckon that won't be so bad." There were no more words to be said, Rip knew, and so he watched Jonah ride off on his horse. 

Rip Hunter had said goodbye to Jonah Hex for the second time, but this time around, it was all right. 

* * *

 When Stein asks Rip if he's ready to leave this era, Rip can answer confidently for the first time since he set foot in the Old West.

"The last time I left I did so to be with those closest to me," he says, and he looks around at his team. "I'm doing that again."

That night, Rip lays in bed, and when he drifts off to sleep, a memory of him and Miranda enters his mind. 

_Look at him," Miranda cooed at the little bundle sleeping next to her bed. Rip held his son's hand, marveling at how he and Miranda had created this wonderful creature._

_"He's amazing," Rip finally let out. "I still can't believe he's only a week old." His son gave a small warble, and Rip smiled. "Hello, Jonah," he whispered. Miranda raised her eyebrows. "Jonah?" she asked. "As in your friend Jonah Hex?"_

_Rip looked into her eyes. "I - Jonas, I mean," he stuttered out. "I don't even know why I said his name. Forget it. I don't want to ruin the moment, I-"_

_"Hey," Miranda interrupted gently, reaching her hand out to calm Rip. "It's okay," she smiled. "I know, and it's okay." Rip looked at her, not comprehending. "I don't understand."_

_Miranda gave a small snort at her husband. "Of course not," she smiled, and she squeezed his hand. "You don't have to feel guilty about it, though. What you're feeling is okay."_

_It was then that Rip thought he understood, and he squeezed Miranda's hand back._

_"I came back for you," he said. "For this. I want you to know that."_  

_"I know," Miranda said softly, and she fell asleep with a smile. Rip sat down at the edge of her bed, one hand still wrapped around hers, and the other on his son's perch on the hospital bed._

_He never left their side._


End file.
